An Eventful Day/Month

Today was certainly interesting. It started off with the usual routine of eating breakfast with my brothers (my host parents eat later, after exercising) and collecting all the things I would need for the day. In addition to the usual school supplies, I brought an additional bag with a change of clothes. Because of this bag of clothing, I could not ride my bike to school, so my host mother gave me a ride to school.
I skipped Chinese class so that I could print a survey for my classmates regarding what, when, and where they like to read. (I will write up this information into an article, which I will then turn in to Connie Blue, my English teacher in the USA.) I then gave this page to my homeroom/English teacher and she agreed to distribute it to the students this afternoon.
I sat through math class, which made total sense, then worked on puzzles during the 3rd period class. At 11:15 my first host mom, Maggie, picked me up and took me to our club meeting. I changed into slacks, a loose-fitting but flattering black shirt with a white flower on it, and my Rotary blazer. After helping Maggie get the meeting room ready, we headed downstairs to eat lunch. This month, the lunch was in the Western-style buffet. I enjoyed my lunch very thoroughly, and even allowed myself to indulge in a dessert or two. After the delicious and very filly meal, I went upstairs and sat through the meeting. There was an unusually high number of birthdays, and many of the birthday people were also celebrating their wedding anniversaries. I am learning some Taiwanese, so I could understand some of what was said... but not much. I gave a short speech about my recent life, then received my monthly allowance of NT$3000 (approximately US$100).
I was back at school by 2:30 for PE and English class. I got back lots of my surveys, and a few promises to return it ASAP. My favorite was from one classmate whose Chinese name is pronounced Lo Jien (his English name is Steve, or Mr. Lo). He has a talent for art, and his survey had several adventurous-looking folks sketched on it.
After school, my host mother, Apple, picked me up. Upon arriving home, I changed into more comfortable and attractive clothing (the same shirt from earlier in the day, with jeans). We picked up the boys from their schools, then all went to a restaurant near the train station for dinner with some friends and guests. At the moment, one of the families staying in our house/B&B is a married couple, with their son and the father's mother. Normal, right? Except that the man and his wife are each Taiwanese television stars. Our dinner was, for this reason, very interesting. A surprising amount of time was still spent discussing my exchange and my plans for the future. So... does that mean that being a foreign exchange student makes you more of a celebrity than being a local/actual celebrity? That amused me.
That pretty much covers my day... an update on some other things:

• April 9-11 I will be in Penghu (a small island off the west coast of Taiwan) with all the other exchange students in the district. The schedule looks like we'll be running around a lot... But I think it'll be fun! I'm excited to see everyone.
• April 21-22 is the District Convention in Yilan. 10 of the Hualien students will be attending and performing the Aboriginal (Amis) Dance. (One is injured, and another will be traveling with his parents.) We are trying on the outfits for the first time tomorrow! 
• April 28-29 is the Multidistrict Convention in Kaohsiung. We will perform here as well!
• Finally: school. I'm finally buckling down and working on writing all the essays that I've let pile up. Further, I have until the end of this month to choose which college to attend. At the moment, I'm going back and forth between New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NM Tech) and the University of Arizona.

I think that about covers it. Thanks for reading this very lengthy post, and I'll keep you updated!

<3